Bandage package



July 2, 1946. BEAL 2,402,981

BANDAGE PACKAGE Filed Feb. 9, 1944 Patented BANDAGE PACKAGE George D.Beai, Pittsburgh, Pa, and Cyril Y.

Emery, Westiield, N. 3., assi gnors to Obesebrougb ManufacturingCompany, Consolidated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication February 9, 1944, Serial No. 521,690

4 Claims.

This invention is concerned with a package of surgical dressing withinclusion of means for preventing soiling of this dressing prior to thetime of use, and with the provision of means by which the dressing maybe progressively withdrawn from its folded condition in the package andexpanded into strip-like form for application.

The dressing is especially adapted for employment under conditions wherethe carrier fabric, such as gauze, is impregnated with an unctuous,pasty, semi-liquid or jelly-like substance such as petroleum jelly, afatty ointment, or a viscous aqueous emulsion either with or withoutmedicaments: such impregnants or saturants will be herein termed"adherent liquids because they remain adherent to the carrier when thelatter is withdrawn for use.

The dressing package is substantially flat and flexible, and comprisesthe folded gauze or carrier fabric contained within a tightly sealedwrapper or envelope of flexible material, with the dressing itselfprotected against penetration of contamination such as infective matter;and has the advantage, in the event of employment of petroleum jelly orlike fluid saturants, of preventing seepage or leakage of suchsaturants.

With this and other features in view, as will appear in the course ofthe following description and claims, an illustrative form embodying theinvention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view indicating the folding of the dressingfabric.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the fabric and a wrapper.

Figure 2a'is a perspective view showing the folding and sealing of thewrapper around the fabric to provide an open-ended envelope.

Figure 3 is a perspective view conventionally illustrating theintroduction of molten petrolatum into the envelope, with the pile offabric located within the latter.

Figure 4 is an elevation of the face of the completed package.

Figure 5 is a conventionalized cross-section through the same, on alarger scale, substantially on line 5-4 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a perspective view showing the pack age after opening andindicating a manner of withdrawing the strip therefrom.

In the form of practice illustrated in the drawing a single strip isshown, although obviously the package may contain one or more suchstrips.

In the drawing, a strip of fabric such as surgical absorbent gauze,muslin, calico, percale, or

2 the like, and composed of staple or filamentary yarns of cellulosic,proteinaceous or synthetic flbers, is folded to provide a step-wisearrangement of the doubled edges at the left in Fig. 1, by which eachdoubled edge at the left in this illustrated form extends farther to theleft than the adjacent doubled edges above it, and the final edge l3extends beyond the last doubled edge. In practice, it is preferred toobtain this by alternation of long and short folds to provide a. pile lof superposed layers as shown in Figure 1, having a. substantiallyparallelogrammic cross-section (Figs. 2 and as each successive doublededge extends farther toward the left than a corresponding doubled edgeabove it. The upper and right hand free edge in Figure 1 is shown asfolded to provide a, fold il in which is inserted an unfolding threadl2. The left hand or lower free edge l3 projects beyond the doubled edge20 immediately above it, to complete the step-wise arrangement of theleft-hand edges, as illustrated.

The unfolding thread may be formed from a staple yarn, a filament yarn,a monofllament, or a strip of material: and may be of cotton, linen,silk, synthetic silk, regenerated cellulose, metal, or like materialwhich is resistant to the saturating material, and has the tensilestrength requisite for effecting withdrawal.

This pile I0 is then enclosed and tightly sealed in a, protectiveenvelope.

In the illustrative form of practice, the envelope is formed around thepile by placing the pile I 0 upon a sheet it of flexible, tearable,foil-like material such as regenerated cellulose, varnished paper,metallic foil, etc., capable of preventing entry of contamination to thepile, which material is then folded substantially at the lines Itindicated by dash line and in the manner shown, by the arrows. toprovide a flattened tubular structure, with the panel I! lying closelyupon the pile l0 but not extending over the entire area of the fabricnear the free edge I 3. The panel l8 at the opposite margin of the sheetis then folded on top of the panel i1 and secured thereto throughouttheir lengths. One end of the tube, including the panel I9, is thentightly sealed.

The package, thus far prepared, has the pile Ill within the open-endedenvelope as shown in 9 Figure 2a. It will be noted that one end of thethread l2 projects beyond the pile l0 and 'is received between thepanels I! and t9, and is detained in such position by the adhesive whichis employed for closing and sealing the envelope at such end thereof;but preferably does not exsponding, for example, to 250 to 400 percentof the weight of the fabric. It is preferred in practice to accomplishthis operation in a chamber for maintaining sterility of the partlyformed package E and of the petroleum jelly.

The funnel 25 is withdrawn and the lips at the open end of the envelopearebrought together and sealed, whereby a package is ob tained as shownin Figure 4, in which this seal is indicated by the dottedcross-hatching 2B. The

- pile ill of folded fabric, now saturated with petroleum jellyand theedge of the fold H are shown by dash lines. The thread I2 is shown bydotted lines, and it willbe noted'that, as in Figure 4, the right handend of thisthread may be caught within the refolded portion of theenvelope at the panel l9, while the left hand end extends into thecemented area 25 but does not extend to the outside of the package,whereby wicking is prevented but the ends of this thread are securelyheld in position. It is preferred to provide a nick or notch 21 forinitiating the tearing operation at the opening, this notch being formedat the margins of the sealed lips at a' point relatively inward from theposition of the thread [2, and having its end within the area 26 of thesealed lips of this package.

The securing of parts of the envelope together may be accomplished invarious'ways. Thus, the entire surface of the wrapper sheet may beoriginally supplied with a heat-sealing coating, and the securing ofpanels ll, l8-to form the tube, the sealing at the pane1 l9 and thesecuring of the refolding end, as well as the final closing of the openend, may all be accomplished by appropriate heating means fortemporarily softening the coating to-a tacky adhesive condition whileexerting pressure upon the contacting parts. It will be noted that whenthe refolding of the panel I9 is omitted, the wrapper material need onlybe coated at the inner side.

Further, it is included within this invention to employ a wrappermaterial which does not become adhesive upon heating and to accomplishthe securing of the parts by application of an adhesive materialdirectly to the sheet as an incident to the shaping and assembly.Suitable adhesives are those of typespresently employed in securingtogether sheets of regenerated cellulose, metallic foil, etc., andshould be selected as providing a flexible joint, with exclusion ofsubstances which may weaken under atmospheric conditions orwater-immersion. or which provide a nutrient substrate for organisms.Thus dissolved, hot-fluid or hot-tacky organic bodies such as celluloseethers and esters, phenolic and other resins, and the like may be used;and these have been found effective evenwhen petroleum jelly is used asa saturant, as they form tight seals against leakage thereof. When metalfoil is used,

and pressing portions of the material together. Suitable substances ofthis class are organic plastics of high molecular weight which formflexible sheets and become thermoplastic, pressure-sensitive andself-adherent upon heating to a temperature of say 250 degrees F. andhave satisfactory strength and resistance characteristics, such asvinyl, acrylate and halo-acrylate resins, and the hydrocarbon-resistantsynthetic elastomers of butadiene condensation. High molecular weightvinyl resins may be formed into flexible sheets, and used for envelopesto contain petroleum jelly or other greases. With such materials, theparts to be joined are heated to the pressuresensitlve condition, andthen pressed together and allowed to cool.

In employing the package, the thin, protective. tearable and flexiblematerial of the envelope can be torn by starting at the notch 21 andpulling bled folds at the left in Figure 5; so that tension may beexerted along the partly-withdrawn strip it may also be secured bywelding or soldering.

Further, the invention includes the employment of an envelope offlexible sheet'material which becomes cohesive upon heating, so that theenvelope may be formed and sealed by heating as described hereafter,while employing the envelope to prevent contact with parts of thecarrier which have not yet been withdrawn.

As the thread I2 is fixed in the material of the envelope, it acts todraw or to unfold the fold H and pull it out of the package, from theposition shown in full lines in Figure 5 into the position shown bydotted lines in this figure, and thus into the position indicated inFigure 6.

This removal of the edge of the envelope therefore permits the user toseize the fold II with sterile forceps F and pull the fabric, with itssaturation of the petroleum jelly therein and thereon, out of theresidue of the envelope E.

It will be understood that the thickness and separation of the materialsof the carrier strip and envelope of the preferred package have beenexaggerated in the drawings for clearness of de scription; and that inthe preferred practice the materials may be very thin so that a flatpackage is produced. Thus, the employment of flexible wrapping materialfor the envelope permits the latter to conform closely to the carrierstrip in its folded condition.

By reason of offsetting or step-wise sloping arrangement of thesuccessive folds or double layers, the operator can press upon theflexible wrapper with his finger, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, therebyexerting sufficient detaining pressure upon the successive folds so thatthe fabric is detained while the envelope margin is being torn away, andthen the fabric is drawn out successively and the desired end-wisetension can be exerted for assuring that the strip is fully extended asit is applied: and it will be noted that the strip can be drawn forth byone or more double layers at a time and the tensioned length thusobtained is engaged with the patient's arm, for example,'and the residueof the package passed around the arm successively as further folds arewithdrawn, thus avoiding possible contact of the sticky strip withexternal objects during the course of application, By slipping theaeoaaer upper finger (Figs. and 6) successively toward the left, thedouble folds are successively released so that they may be drawn out andexpanded.

It will be noted that if the other free end I: be engaged between thepanels l1, it this will permit a further tension to be exerted upon thebandage when all of the straightened folds have been withdrawn from theenvelope, and this free edge i3 will be released when the pressure bythe finger is removed and the extreme edge 30 of the envelope employedfor pulling the residue of the envelope E from the end l3 of thebandage.

As shown in Figures 1 and 5, the pile I0 is of substantiallyparallelogrammic cross-section and hence a compact, flat package isprovided, which in an illustrative case contains about 30 inches ofabsorbent gauze of a width of 3 inches and formed with successive foldswhich are offset about is of an inch and have an average width of about1% of an inch. With this, the flat form of the package is a rectangle of2 inches by 3% inches, with a maximum thickness of about 3 3 of an inch.The wrapper material used for the envelope was a regenerated cellulosefilm having a thickness of about 0.001 inch, and this has been found tobe easily tearable for use of the bandage strip but, due to itsflexibility, it is substantially free from accidental damage by whichthe petroleum jelly may leak out or by which any infective matter maygain access to the interior of the envelope.

In preparing this package, an essentially sterilized gauze was employedof the type known in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, twelfth revision, as TypeI. Absorbent gauze, of cotton staple and having 44 warp threads per inchof width and either 36 or 40 filling threads per linear inch, as theinterstices between threads of such a gauze have been found excellentlyadapted for remaining substantially filled with petrolatum uponwithdrawal from the package.

In this illustrative form of practice, the bandage was saturated orimpregnated with a semi-liquid or jelly-like material, specificallypetroleum jelly, or petrolatum described in the United StatesPharmacopoeia, twelfth revision, having a specific gravity between 0.815and 0.865 at 60 degrees 0., with a standardized melting pointsubstantially 7 between 100 and 140 degrees F. This petrolatum remainssoft at 30 degrees F. and below, so that it is ready for immediate useunder all normal conditions of application to the flesh; and hasessentially the characteristics of a soft, plastic mass ofmicrocrystalline structures embedded in fiuid hydrocarbons of highviscosity, and of forming a coherent and adherent mass on and in theindividual folds of the fabric so that the operation of separating thesefolds from their superposed zigzag position brings the strip into anextended condition having a substantially continuous saturation andcoating of petrolatum thereon.

It is preferred to establish the pile of folded fabric and then toprovide the same with a wrappar, and to sterilize the semi-assembledpackage in this condition, as this permits the employment of relativelyhigh steam temperatures without dimculty, and assures a definitelysterile condition. On the other hand, the procedure of manufacture ofpetroleum jelly, in separating it from other petroleum components orfractions, to-

gether with subsequent refining operations, effects a thoroughsterilization thereof, and any infection is normally a result ofcondition subsequent to the preparation. Such minor possibilities ofsubsequent infection may be circumvented by substantial treatment of thefinished petrolatum with steam under pressure and then maintaining it ina closed system until actually filled into the package.

By bringing the sterile petroleum jelly into the sterilized,partly-assembled package under sterile conditions, and then closing andsealing the lips of the envelope under sterile conditions, the bandageis thus itself freed from contamination of bacterial nature and does notrequire further sterilization prior to use.

It will be understood that the illustrative forms of practice areexplanatory and are not limited, and that the invention may be employedin many ways within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed:

1. A surgical bandage package comprised of a single zigzag folded stripof fabric, one edge of each fold being positioned so that it project a,substantial distance beyond the corresponding edge of the subjacentfold, an envelope of flexible protective material enclosing and tightlysealing the fabric against entry of contaminating material and closelyconforming to the parallelogrammic cross-section of the folded fabric,said envelope having a side edge portion tearable to form an Openin e psing the end fold of the strip for withdrawal while enabling theopposite folded edges of the strip to be detained by finger pressurethrough the envelope.

2. A surgical bandage package comprised of a single zigzag folded stripof fabric, one edge of each fold being positioned so that it projects asubstantial distance beyond the corresponding edge of the subjacentfold, said fabric being saturated with an adherent and cohesive liquidsubstance, and an envelope of flexible protective material enclosing andtightly sealing the fabric against contaminating material and closelyconforming to the cross-section of the folded fabric, said envelopehaving a side portion tearable to form an opening exposing the end foldof the strip for withdrawal while enabling the opposite folded edges ofthe strip to be detained by finger pressure through the envelope.

3. A surgical bandage package comprised of a single folded strip offabric having the successive folded edges offset in stepwisearrangement, said strip being saturated with an adherent and cohesiveliqui material, and an envelope of flexible protective materialenclosing the pile of folded fabric and sealing said liquid within thepackage, the said envelope material being effective upon local pressureto engage and detain the'folds adjacent said folded edges selectivelyaccording to the point of application of the pressure so thatnon-detained folds may be selectively and successively withdrawn throughan opening parallel to the edges of said folds and remote therefrom,

1 said envelope also including a weakened portion for permitting theformation of said opening along a line essentially parallel to a doublededge of said strip of fabric and at a predetermined distance therefrom.

4. A substantially flat surgical bandage package comprised of a singlezigzag folded strip of fabric having alternating long and short foldsforming a pile of parallelogrammic cross-section with the successivefolded edges offset in stepwise arrangement with each folded edgeprojecting beyond the preceding one and the strip ending in a projectingfolded edge, and an envelope of flexible, grease-proof materialenclosing and tightly sealing the fabric and petroleum jelly and 7closely conforming to said pile and the material of the envelope beinglocally yieldable under exthe envelope while leaving the folded endtree, said envelope having means for severing the ma.- terial thereofand forming an opening adjacent to and parallel with the folded end ofthe strip 5 and as wide as the strip.

GEORGE D. IBEAL. CYRIL Y. EMIERY.

